Ballston Spa High junior gets prison time for role in fatal crash

Arriving to Saratoga County Court, Brian Vecchio was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. He was the driver of a crash that killed 17 year-old Noelle Johnsen.Photo Erica Miller 8/3/12 news_Vecchio5_Sat

BALLSTON SPA -- The driver in the Jan. 7 crash that killed a Ballston Spa High School junior was sentenced Friday morning to 1-1/3 to four years in state prison.

Brian Vecchio, 18, pleaded guilty May 31 to criminally negligent homicide, admitting he was driving 98 mph when he lost control of a Chevy Silverado and crashed on a rural road in Providence. Noelle Johnsen, Vecchio's passenger, was fatally injured in the collision. She had just turned 17.

Johnsen's family and friends fought back tears Friday as her mother, Melody Scaia, read a victim impact statement in Saratoga County Court. Vecchio apologized for the accident in court.

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Scaia, in her statement, said she would never get to see Johnsen celebrate her 18th birthday, go to college or get married because of Vecchio's "reckless act and total disregard for Noelle's life."

But Scaia embraced Vecchio as she walked from the witness stand back to her seat in the courtroom audience, saying outside the courtroom that she forgave him and would not hold a grudge.

Vecchio's public defender attorney, Joseph Hammer, had lobbied for Judge Jerry Scarano to grant Vecchio youthful offender status, which would have allowed case records to be sealed. Scarano denied the request after both Scaia and Saratoga County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Campion voiced objections.

The judge also revoked Vecchio's driver's license.

In court, Vecchio turned to Scaia and Johnsen's other family members while addressing Scarano, saying he was "sincerely sorry" for his actions that evening.

He said he wanted to take full responsibility for his actions and was ready to accept his punishment.

Scaia said she would like to see Vecchio go to local schools and speak about the dangers of reckless driving, which Vecchio said in court he wanted to do.

Johnsen was slated to graduate early with the Ballston Spa High School Class of 2012. She had plans to attend college and study to become an equine lawyer, turning her passion for horses into a career.

Instead, a bouquet of white roses sat in the Saratoga Performing Arts Center during the school's graduation this June. It represented Johnsen and two other members of the graduating class who had passed away prematurely.

"There is not a bone in my body (that wanted to) hurt Noelle that night," Vecchio said to the members of Johnsen's family in court. "Me and Noelle were very close friends and I miss her very much."

Scaia, said she believed the prison term was appropriate because it will allow Vecchio to continue to pursuing his life goals when he gets out of prison.

Hammer said Vecchio was a volunteer firefighter and an emergency medical technician, with aspirations to continue that as a career.

"He had to pay for what he did and he will forever," Scaia said of Vecchio. "He's sorry."